THE INCREDIBLE TRANSFORMATION OF MACAULAY CULKIN

Culkin’s parents, Kit and Patricia, came from incredibly modest beginnings prior to Macaulay’s success. As one of seven children, he would scramble for change to augment his church-working father’s and telephone operator mother’s salaries.

Father Kit would eventually take on the managerial role for his son, gaining quite a reputation for hardline negotiations and bigger paydays for his son. Supposedly, Kit was itching more for power than for money, perhaps in part due to his own ill-fated run at acting.
Home Alone was a family affair in more ways than one: Culkin’s real-life brother, Kieran, played his younger cousin, Fuller. Kieran as well as their brother Rory followed in Macaulay’s footsteps, also having been bitten by the acting bug.
Joe Pesci, the more disciplined of the two “wet bandits,” scared Culkin during the filming of Home Alone, likely because Pesci was still in the zone of his Goodfellas mob character.
Home Alone grossed nearly a half-billion dollars worldwide, while the sequel netted $359 million. Culkin’s star was so bright that he was offered $8 million for 1994’s Richie Rich, making him one of the highest paid child actors in history.
Despite his mega earnings, Culkin’s parents hid his wealth and the headlines that exposed as such so that he wouldn’t grow up spoiled and entitled.
Culkin received the incredible honor of hosting Saturday Night Live at the age of 11. He was the second-youngest host in the show’s history, having been eclipsed by 7-year-old Drew Barrymore following her E.T. fame.

Culkin received his first kiss — both onscreen and in real life — at the age of 11 in a scene of My Girl, costarring Anna Clumsky. The liplock was endearing enough to win the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.

The 1995 divorce between Culkin’s parents took a toll on the child star and his siblings alike. The kids nicknamed their difficult father “Stinky,” who also made Culkin sleep on the couch, rather than a bed, apparently on account of a struggle for power with his famous and successful son.
The divorce proceedings also brought to life the fact that Kit punched his wife twice while pregnant, as well as threatened to throw her off their apartment balcony. Once the trials were over, Culkin, his mother, and his siblings could return to a more peaceful domestic life.
Adding to the Culkin family saga, he tragically lost two of his sisters, both at the young age of 29. A half-sister died from a toxic overdose, while older sister Dakota was fatally struck by a car.
Culkin practiced his verbal skills and line delivery by prepping with tongue twisters. He loved them so much that he even created some of his own with which to practice.

In thanks to the heightened scrutiny and media attention he’s received all his life, Culkin early on came to realize that his eyes are of two unequal sizes, proving that imperfections won’t necessarily prevent you from box office gold.
Not surprisingly, Culkin suffers from agoraphobia (the fear of crowds in/and public spaces). In part to help combat this self-diagnosis, he became a dog owner, thus forcing him out of the house and into the fresh air at least a few times per day.
Michael Jackson became a huge fan of Culkin’s after seeing a live ballet performance of The Nutcracker in which Culkin played Fritz. They’d come to be fast friends, and Michael even appeared in Michael Jackson’s music video for “Black or White.”

Culkin was a favorite guest at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch at the height of the child star’s fame in the 1990s. Once allegations of abuse plagued Jackson in the press, Culkin vehemently denied that any wrongdoing happened between the stars, who both suffered from getting too famous too young.

Culkin’s friendship with the King of Pop was so meaningful that Culkin would be deemed the godfather of Jackson’s daughter, Paris. Unsubstantiated rumors also abound that Culkin could perhaps be the biological father of Blanket, Paris’s younger half-brother.

Culkin takes his godparenting duties quite seriously, having sustained a close relationship with Paris Jackson. They went as far as to get matching tattoos of red spoons, which may symbolize overcoming obstacles and surpassing trials and tribulations they had previously faced.

In 1998, Culkin’s mother accidentally caused a lethal fire in her apartment, causing the death of four people and the injuries of another 22. Lawsuits followed, even against Culkin himself, who wasn’t even in the vicinity at the time of the fatal event.

Even after becoming one of the most famous kids on the globe, Culkin still attended high school—albeit one for fellow actors and Hollywood spawn. He had an intimate group of 20 friends, and chose to whiz around class in a stool rather than sit in a regular chair.

Culkin ended up meeting his first wife, actress Rachel Miner, in high school, though he wasn’t so friendly to her when she first transferred to his school. They eventually had an on-again, off-again relationship, finally settling down on the fourth go around.

Culkin married Miner at the young age of 17 in 1998, though the couple ended up divorcing by 2002. The twosome often stayed in watching movies and caring after their heaps of stray animals.

In order to keep the press at bay, Culkin and Miner created a scavenger hunt invitation for their wedding guests, which led them to a hotel where they were provided with geographic coordinates of the Connecticut home of their low-key nuptials.